


Let Them Be Deceived

by Melodi_Maizono



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Angst, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Heavy Angst, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:54:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26430742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melodi_Maizono/pseuds/Melodi_Maizono
Summary: Sayaka was shattered by the recent motive, but this time, she did not hesitate.In the end, her recklessness even deceived herself, and now, she loses all she ever had.
Kudos: 10





	Let Them Be Deceived

**Author's Note:**

> I removed most of my old fics that I wasn't that proud of, and I accidentally removed this one too, so here's a repost.

It was all so quiet, a deadly silence beyond what she thought possible.

“How do you feel, miss idol?” A taunting voice spoke, the words coming in a quiet whisper, yet having the impact of an earthquake. Sayaka couldn’t comprehend what was happening in the slightest, but that voice brought her back down to earth, even when she so desperately wished it was a dream.

At a simple glance of the room, it would seem nothing major happened, and that the blue-haired idol was staring at nothing. However, in reality, she was looking at something truly terrifying. The absence of twelve people who were previously in the room was unbelievable, but Sayaka had no choice to believe it. The room was quiet and lonely aside from the demonic angel beside her, and there were twelve corpses in a nearby room. Sayaka could remember each terrified look, from the falling tears held by the usually-positive swimmer, to the red eyes full of disgust from the gambler. Despite the myriad of shocked and fearful expressions, only one expression truly traumatized Sayaka.

Makoto, in the few days Sayaka knew him, showed so many emotions, and all of those feelings were present in the one expression after everyone voted wrong. His wide eyes were reminiscent of the shock when the killing game was announced. His lowered brows had shown a slight bit of anger, much like the subtle fury he had shown when he had confronted Sayaka after her reaction to the motive. The tears in the corners of his eyes resembled the tears he had after he found the body of the baseball player, upset that somebody was wrapped up in the puppetmaster’s schemes. Sayaka knew why all of those little signs were mixed into one expression, and she also knew why his shock, anger, and sadness were all wrapped up into one single moment. Sayaka remembered what happened just moments before she truly comprehended what she had done.

“All of the votes have come in, puhuhu! The majority have voted for the Ultimate Unlucky Student, Makoto Naegi!” The bear said, his paws covering his odd mouth as he chuckled. However, while looking throughout the room, his demeanor soon shifted completely, as his previous laughter-filled words turned dreary. “Though, I must say I am disappointed with the voting results…”

“Why are you disappointed, hm? We have come to the correct conclusion, yes? There is no denying Makoto is the killer.” The gambler said, her voice as calm and stable as ever. However, Sayaka knew something was hiding under that tranquility. She has seen a thousand lies, and every single expression connected to those lies. The gambler was clearly experienced with deceiving others, but Sayaka had experience of being deceived.

“Yeah, what the fuck? We played your shitty game! You should be fucking ecstatic!” The biker yelled, raising a fist in the air with a clear annoyance going through his head. Despite his irritation being clear, the slight trembling of his other palm signified he was just as fearful. Instead of deceiving others through words and expressions, his actions provided more than enough of a threat.

“Maybe… we got it… wrong?” The programmer said, her arms slightly wrapped around her body, most likely to give herself a sense of balance despite her fear. Sayaka could relate to that greatly. She almost died because of it the night before, after all. At least the programmer seemed to not deceive others, but that wasn’t much of a positive in the scenario.

“Being wrong in this scenario is completely out of the question! We worked together, and we pieced together every single clue in a focused debate! There is not a single possibility of a false conclusion!” The moral compass shouted, a firm stance going along with his determined voice. Unlike most, he seemed to not even consider the possibility of deception. Sayaka knew the lack of consideration saved her life, but it wouldn’t save his own.

“I am afraid to say, but…” The bear lowered his head as he sighed, clearly afraid to continue on with the truth. Sayaka closed her eyes, anticipating twelve pairs of eyes to stare at her once the truth was revealed. “The real killer is…”

“Sayaka Maizono.” The lilac-haired girl blurted out. A sequence of gasps and shouts followed, as Sayaka opened her eyes to see everyone glancing between her and the other girl.

“Aw, you spoiled it! But yeah, she killed the baseball pro, and the mysterious girl who interrupted me was the only one who voted correctly! Man, you guys suck at this.” The bear said, leaning on his chair with a slight hint of boredom. Silence was all that followed for what seemed like hours, but in reality, it was only a few moments.

“Sayaka, how could you…?” Makoto said, his previous silence now destroyed, replaced with a shaky voice not wanting to believe the betrayal. It was impossible for him to deceive, and maybe if the others knew that, they would have realized that he was innocent. 

“I…” Sayaka wanted to respond, but she shifted her eyes away while her potential response faded into nothingness.

“So… this is where it ends…? I’m going to die…?” The swimmer said, barely able to get her words out. Her emotions were clear, but that wasn’t a surprise. Nobody could put in the effort to lie when they were going to die in the next few moments. 

“How could this possibly occur?! You! How did you possibly know?” The affluent progeny shouted, directing his attention towards the girl who knew the culprit. His anger and bewilderment masked the arrogant actions he took earlier on, and Sayaka was initially glad his reckless behavior never looked further on.

“I tried to mention it beforehand, but nobody was convinced by my supposedly-outlandish theories… and this was how it ended.” The girl explained, her eyes closed while she focused on the sequence of events she had pieced together in her mind. “The absence of hair in the room was odd, but that created more speculation and connections that confirmed it all. Sayaka’s plan was clear. Anybody who paid attention could notice that Makoto and Sayaka were close. After the motive, Sayaka decided to use that bond to her advantage, and frame the only person she could. The true connection, however, was the small blue fibers on the victim’s fingers, alongside the blood under his fingernails.”

“I see what you’re getting at… the culprit must have been scratched, correct? However, I do not see any injuries on Maizono.” The martial artist questioned, seemingly calm in the face of death. Sayaka sensed the girl had a reason for being calm, but the serenity in the face of terror only made Sayaka feel more guilty.

“Makoto doesn’t have any injuries either, but none of you ever seemed to question that.” The lilac-haired girl carried on, sighing afterwards. “Did nobody ever notice Sayaka has kept her hands behind her back most of this trial? That in itself would not carry any suspicion… but the cuff of her uniform shirt is blue. The signs of a struggle were noticed immediately, but nobody was making the connections. The victim tried to grab the knife away from Sayaka during the struggle, and ended up hurting her arm slightly. She succeeded in hiding the one clue that definitely proved her involvement in this case.”

The world was blurry for Sayaka after hearing the summary of her actions from another’s mouth. Tearing up, Sayaka felt her legs wobble, and she desperately held onto the podium, just so she wouldn’t fall. Regret was going to get her nowhere now. She had already marked the deaths of everyone around her, and nobody was going to make her mistakes disappear.

“Sayaka… please… let me see your arm. It can’t be true!” Makoto yelled, more pain in his voice than Sayaka could expect from him. Sayaka became exactly what she feared. Sayaka was deceived so much, lied to so much, and manipulated so much, but she became exactly like the people she hated. Sayaka tried to stand strong, but she eventually felt her legs lean too much to one side, and she placed a hand on Makoto’s shoulder in a last attempt to not fall. The boy lifted Sayaka’s arm, and pulled down her sleeve. Sayaka couldn’t see his expression, but she knew he saw the scratch on her wrist. Sayaka couldn’t bear to look at his expression. She hadn’t known him long, but that didn’t change the fact that she took advantage of him.

“I can’t b-believe we’re about to d-die because of s-some stupid boy and his ignorance…” The writer said, her voice carrying the same unsteady rhythm. The voice carried deception and constant discomfort, but Sayaka knew she was worse than the writer would ever be.

“You are just as guilty as him.” The lilac girl blurted out, her voice steady and uncaring. Sayaka knew the girl was probably holding in everything, but it didn’t matter anymore. None of their expressions, voices, or actions would matter anymore. They would all be dead in a few moments, and it was all Sayaka’s fault.

The next few moments, Sayaka truly realized how hopeless everything was. She barely remembered anything that happened, because soon, Monokuma announced that the time for goodbyes were over. Sayaka heard the cold, brutal screams of the voices that were never going to be in the world again. All this time, she didn’t care about the names they held, the voices they used to express their words, or the emotions each one of them held. She simply gave them a title and a basic thought, but never truly brought up their true self. They were people with more than deception, more than lies, more than just a title.

Sayaka never truly realized how flawed she was until now. Chains took in Sakura and Aoi, separating them even though Sakura desperately tried to comfort Aoi. Chains took in Chihiro and Mondo, their contrasting behaviors ever present as Mondo desperately tried to break the chains, while Chihiro accepted her demise. Hifumi, Yasuhiro, and Toko wanted to live despite their flaws, as they were people who could grow and improve. Byakuya and Kyoko had great minds, but their persistence didn’t mean anything in the face of death. Celestia and Kiyotaka were complete opposites in intentions, but they still had a chance to live their life out. As a cruel twist of fate, Makoto was the last to be taken in.

Sayaka lifted her face a moment before he was imprisoned, and looked Makoto in the eyes. The expression that haunted Sayaka before she looked over the events truly existed in this moment. Makoto’s face was both clear and unreadable, and Sayaka knew she made a mistake.

She deceived herself. She believed doing this would save everything she worked for. She believed doing this would save her friends. She believed in every little lie she told herself. She looked at Makoto’s last expression for what seemed like an eternity, but just as Sayaka rose her hand out to reach him, he was pulled away. She fell to the floor, and stayed there, feeling every inch of the cold tiles underneath her, along with realizing how much dust was present within the room. It was mocking her. All of it was mocking her. 

Now, as she finished recalling every terrible mistake, she sobbed more. Once again, she heard a mocking voice within her head, saying “How do you feel, miss idol?”. She didn’t know how to feel. She didn’t want to feel. She just wanted this all to go away. 

“Aw, it seems like you’re ignoring me… I guess I went a little overboard with all of the despair, hm? Such a waste, really.” The taunting voice said, the tone completely unreadable. Sayaka’s eyes widened once she realized this wasn’t just a voice in her head mocking her. Looking behind her, Sayaka couldn’t believe what she saw. Junko… was still alive, after all this? No, that couldn’t be it. It was just a hallucination. Sayaka couldn’t take another terrible twist of fate, especially after seeing so much death in the past day. Sayaka then grew tearful, baring her teeth and narrowing her eyes at the illusion of Junko Enoshima.

“I can’t take this anymore!” She yelled, knowing she was just yelling at a figment of her imagination. “I’m a failure! I deserve nothing good! I’m done with this all! I’m done with… with all of this crap! I don’t care if I’m insane, if I’m not, I just want to… to… I don’t even know anymore!”

Sayaka quickly pushed herself up off the ground, and directly faced the illusion of Junko Enoshima. She closed her eyes, her shaky palms growly slightly steadier whilst being formed into fists. Raising her fist, she tried to aim directly towards the illusion. Just when she thought she was about to hit the ghost of her regrets, she felt a hand grab her wrist, and push her away. Opening her eyes, Sayaka saw a smirk appear on the blonde’s face, an arrogant gleam within her eyes.

“Junko…? Is that… you? I thought… I thought you died…” Sayaka questioned, barely able to get her words through her disbelief and panic. Unbeknownst to her, each word was another step to disappointment. “If you survived… did the others survive too…?”

“Oh, sorry to get your hopes up, bloody blueberry. They’re all more than dead by now, probably. Did you know bodies can burn really quickly? Useful for the future, if you know what I mean.” Junko winked, her grin seeming so wide that it stretched from ear to ear. Sayaka had visible confusion on her face, her entire body shaking in fear as she didn’t know how to react. “Oh, right… I have to explain it. Y’know, I was really hoping for more drama and suspense, but this works just as well! The more hopeful you are, the greater the despair of failure, after all! Anyways, that other ‘Junko’ was my dumb sister. We switched places, but our plan didn’t go very well.”

“Your sister…? Then… the others d-didn’t…? Why…? Why did you kill them? This isn’t my fault! You’re a monster!” Sayaka cried, charging at Junko with raised fists. However, Junko sighed, and merely kicked Sayaka to the ground after moving to the side.

“Oh, it’s so cute how you’re still trying to have hope in yourself!” Junko laughed, stepping on Sayaka’s back to make sure the idol couldn’t move. “I only killed my sister… but the other thirteen? That was your decision! You specifically chose to kill Kuwata, you know! Alongside that, you had plenty of time to admit your wrongdoings! This wasn’t any of my fault. I just made the rules, and you played along.”

“No… I didn’t… I just wanted to save…” Sayaka said, in between slight moments of her coughing blood, the boot’s heel digging deep into her back. 

“Oh, you wanted to save somebody? Did I hear that right? This is so hilarious! You know those people you tried to save? Your group members are either dead, or are going to be dead very soon. There wasn’t a point in trying to save them.” Junko explained, every single sentence bringing a realization to Sayaka’s mind, and with every realization, an avalanche of emotions.

“You… monst… er…” Sayaka whispered, barely able to speak between the sobbing, the coughing of blood, and the difficulty to breathe. Soon, she became close to unconsciousness, but her pain wouldn’t end just yet.

“You grew up by constantly being stereotyped and lied to, and you eventually became what you hated. However, the greatest part of this tale is how you committed such terrible acts because of my own deception. You have nothing left, bloody blueberry. Though, you still have one chance in this world.” Junko whispered, lifting her foot off of Sayaka’s back. She leaned down towards the idol with blurry vision. Grabbing the idol’s chin, Junko lifted the idol’s face towards her own and smiled. “Do you know what that one chance is, my blueberry?”

“What… is it…?” Sayaka managed to say, despite being in between the realms of the conscious and unconscious. She would take anything at this point. Every single hope she had was torn apart, so nothing could be worse than her current state.

“You could get revenge for every single moment you suffered. The managers who made you act against your will, the friends who used you for their own benefit, the thousands of fans who stereotype you and pressure you… they all need to suffer the same way you have, don’t they? You lost your true friends, and you became what you hated all because the world took them away from you. You dedicated so much to this world, and the world didn’t care in the slightest.” Junko said, her previous arrogance disappearing more and more with every word. 

Sayaka stared into Junko’s eyes, and each word seemed to draw Sayaka closer into their enchanting color. Each promise, each revelation, and each reason slowly absorbed Sayaka’s common sense. Sayaka smiled, and Junko returned the smile. The puppetmaster slowly took the puppet’s strings, and pulled her up from the ground. Junko gripped Sayaka’s hand tightly, and said a few last words before they exited the trial room.

“Let them all be deceived, just like you were.”


End file.
